Smithfield Foods reports third-quarter loss

Company loses $103.1 million

Smithfield Foods reported it lost $103.1 million in its fiscal third quarter compared to net income of $54.5 million for the same period a year ago. The company said the loss is reflective of high costs of feed, money-losing hedging strategies and costs related to the restructuring of its pork segment.

“The pork results were more than offset by the restructuring charge and highly unfavorable conditions in the hog production segment,” said CEO C. Larry Pope. “Our cost structure continued to reflect high-priced grain purchased last summer, which kept our raising costs at near-record levels while hog prices remained low.”

According to a company press release, figures indicate company losses from continuing operations totaled $21.4 million, while revenue from sales rose to $3.3 billion from $3.1 billion a year ago.

CEO Pope continued to state that he expects the current fourth quarter to be difficult, with “continued substantial losses” in hog production, however, he added that he remains “reasonably optimistic about fiscal 2010 in spite of the current recession.”
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